Michelle · English girl’s name

Michelle in Hawaiian is Mikala

The form Hawaiian speakers have written since the 1800s, when C became K, the doubled consonant was written once, and the final e became a.

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mee·KAH·lah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Michelle in Hawaiian?

Michelle is Mikala in Hawaiian, said mee-KAH-lah.

How Michelle became Mikala

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Michelle C became K, the doubled consonant was written once, and the final e became a. Hawaiian never writes a consonant twice, so the pair collapses to one.

Mikala has a page of its own as a Hawaiian given name, with its popularity and the names it is usually paired with.

How to say Mikala

Say it mee-KAH-lah, leaning on KAH, sounding every vowel: i as “ee”, a as in “father”. The pronunciation guide covers the whole system.

Sources the Pukui and Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary, Place Names of Hawaii, Nānā i ke Kumu, wehewehe.org, Wiktionary's Hawaiian given names and U.S. Social Security baby-name records. How this site is compiled · Send a correction

Questions people ask

What is Michelle in Hawaiian?

Michelle is Mikala in Hawaiian, pronounced mee-KAH-lah. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s.

How do you pronounce Mikala?

mee-KAH-lah, with the stress on KAH.

Why does Mikala look so different from Michelle?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Michelle, C became K, the doubled consonant was written once, and the final e became a.

Is Mikala a real Hawaiian name?

Yes, as a borrowed name. Hawaiian families have used Mikala since the 1800s, but it is Michelle respelled, not a name built from Hawaiian words.

All 164 English names in Hawaiian · Hawaiian girl's names